Lean on me
by Adorereading
Summary: About the life of Ryan Atwood and The Cohens; and (in my opinion) some missing scenes that totally could've happened and should've happened in the show. A bit more in-depth story about certain details in their lives and just a fun little story.
1. Chapter 1

**Felt like writing this. It's been a while and we all can use an The O.C. fanfic every now and then.**

* * *

Seth was in the kitchen grabbing breakfast, when his father – Sandy – came through the patio doors.

"Morning Father."

"Good morning, have you seen Ryan? I was on my way to wake him, but he wasn't in the pool house." Sandy replied as he went over to the counter to schmear a bagel.

Seth nodded, "No haven't seen him, but he was probably up early. He has a soccer game this afternoon and the coach scheduled extra training."

At that Sandy halted in his schmearing, "That's this afternoon?" he asked shocked.

"Yeah, mom even put it on the calendar dad." Seth said as he pointed towards the family calendar on the fridge.

"Shoot." Sandy replied as he glanced at his watch. "I have to go to work. I promise I'll try and make it to the game."

Seth shook his head, "It's not me you have to promise that too." Earning himself a glare from Sandy, which Seth simply shrugged away.

* * *

When Seth arrived at school, he saw Ryan walking from the changing rooms; his hair still slightly wet from – hopefully – the shower.

"Hey Ryan!" Seth called out for his attention. Ryan looked up from his book and nodded at him before moving towards his brother.

"How was practice?" Seth asked, pure out of interest for Ryan – not because of the sport.

Ryan shrugged, "Rough. If coach wants us to do good at the game, he should've gone over tactics instead of us running ourselves ragged for 2 hours."

And if Seth didn't know any better, he would've said Ryan was whining. But been to a couple of trainings; waiting for Ryan to finish so that they could both drive home and man Coach Hess was brutal.

"Sucks man. You have to win this one, right? For the finals?"

Ryan nodded and at that moment they were joined by Luke, "Need to win this, the opposing team are shitheads. They play brutal, one of their players is already suspended due to unnecessary use of attack on the field."

"See, that's why I don't do sports."

"We know Cohen, you'd break. At least your brother knows what he's doing." Luke replied before waving them off and heading towards his class.

At the brother comment, Seth and Ryan shared a look and the tiniest amount of acknowledgement that people did see them as brothers now; and they were just fine with that.

* * *

At 4 p.m. Kirsten was entering the school grounds. She'd been to a few of Ryan's soccer games before, as encouragement- but this time Ryan had practically – of course without any of the actual words – asked her and Sandy to come watch. That was a huge step forward, within their relationship and it made Kirsten and Sandy very happy that Ryan was finally accepting his place within the Cohen household. Of course, a few months prior – Sandy and Kirsten had given Ryan the ultimate gift a foster child could hope for. A legal adoption. So as of May 2012; Ryan James Atwood, became Ryan James Cohen- Atwood. He still went by Atwood but knowing on paper he was a Cohen had been a huge difference.

See spotted Seth on the docks and went over to join him. "Hey Seth, where is your father?"

Seth winced. "What?" Kirsten asked curious now.

"I think he kind of forgot? I had to remind him of the game this morning and he went off in a hurry towards his work."

"Damn it." Kirsten cursed earning herself a wide-eyed glance from Seth. "Don't say it. Your father is supposed to be here. Ryan asked us to come."

Seth raised his eyebrows at his mother. "You know what I mean, he provided enough information to let us know what-where and when. That's practically asking. I'm going to call your father- save me a seat."

* * *

Sandy's voicemail:

" _Sandford Cohen, why are you not at your son's soccer game? He asked us- Sandy! ASKED! He never asks for anything… please be here. Even if it's just for the last part of the game."_

Sandy groaned, he knew, HE KNEW! He was trying his hardest to get rid of this client to go. But the client wasn't having it. Taking a deep breathe, unfortunately, work came first- because this deal couldn't go south.

* * *

 **That was it for the first chapter/prologue!**


	2. Chapter 2

Yes. Chapter two! I got a few very lovely reviews which I'd like to reply to and give a little shout-out to as well! :D Thanks to everybody who has read the first prologue/chapter and special thanks to those who took the time to review and/or add this story to their 'update' notifications and/or favourites!

 **matthewsbj:** _I feel the same way. And your sense of Kirsten's wrath, might be on point ;-)_

 **Linneagb:** Sanford ;-) thanks for the catch. I'm no native speaker (but I should've noticed this!) I'll keep a closer eye on that! And the 'Francis' middle name, that just never really felt good to me. Therefor I changed it, haha. (Really hated Frank *frownyface*)

 **Guest (whomever you are):** Thank you very much for the compliments on my storytelling, it means a lot! More coming right up! Enjoy!

* * *

Ryan had spotted Kirsten and Seth at the stands, and after receiving very out-there waves of spotting him on the field. Ryan had shyly waved back. He was wondering where Sandy was- before he shook himself. _At least someone came, even better both your brother and you mot-… Kirsten came. Stop whining, Ryan._ Ryan thought as he had to focus on the game- looking over the opposite team Ryan swallowed a bit nervous. He'd heard all the rumors but hearing about it and seeing them was completely different. Now Ryan, in all his 5'8" glory wasn't persé short, he was already used to Luke's 5'11" tall frame… but the guys from the other team were massive. Not only did they all practically have football player physiques but they were all above 6 feet.

"Damn." He muttered.

"Yeah, told you." Luke commented during their stretching and warm ups.

Hearing a whistle followed by a harsh, "Alright- ladies!" Luke and Ryan turned towards their coach.

"You know the drill, kids! I want to go hard and fast from the get-go till the end. These mutants are large, but that also gives them disadvantage; they're slower. Use your speed- Atwood, Ward- I want you both on the offense. Keep an eye on your fellow players; make sure to leave no openings. Sanders! You better not let one ball slip past those beams, you hear me!"

"Yes coach!" The ream replied- and they were off.

* * *

It was half time, Ryan had already scored one goal - on his way back to the locker rooms he glanced once more up at the stands, still only spotting Kirsten and Seth. Kirsten caught him starring and gave him an enthusiast thumbs up- to which he replied with a shy smile and quickly looked away- embarrassed that such a little gesture could behold such strength. Again though, no Sandy. It shouldn't hurt this much for Sandy to be missing, it wasn't even that much of an important game. Well, it was- if they didn't win this one, they weren't going to the finals.

"Yo- Chino. Come-on, coach wants us in side." Luke yelled at Ryan who was walking a bit aimlessly.

"Coming!"

* * *

Kirsten checked her phone again, no message, no missed calls. _Damn it, Sandy._

"Nothing from dad, yet?" Seth asked curious. Kirsten shook her head, "No, I know he had an important meeting today. He must be caught up."

"He'd better be." Seth muttered annoyed with his father.

Kirsten glared at her son, "Seth!"

"What? Not like you feel the same way too. You've checked your phone like a hundred times already. Dad should be here! This game is important to Ryan… we're here! I hate sports, I hate sitting in these stands, I hate that this game takes up over an hour of my precious time, I hate anything related to school… I could be with Summer right now. But I'm here, supporting my brother- because for the first time, he's enjoying himself and engaging with us more. Dad should be here! He's the only Cohen that even has the slightest of clues of what is going on—all we're doing is cheering Ryan on; whether he's doing something good or not, because we have no clue."

Hearing Seth rant, Kirsten couldn't help but agree. Sandy should be here. No matter what was going on at work; if you couldn't make just a bit of time for your children… especially the kid that never asks for anything. "I know, Seth. But unfortunately, I can't change it right now. At least we're here. But let me assure you- I will have a talk with your father as soon as I see him." Kirsten replied. _I guarantee you that._ She added in thought.

* * *

Almost at the end of the game, it all came crashing down – literally. It happened so fast. Like the coach had said, their speed was their advantage. And if Ryan's history had any positive outcome, it had been his ability to run fast. Together with Luke at the front of the team, both strikers - whose job it was to score goals – they were pretty agile and quick on their feet. Unfortunately, as the game continued and Newport was winning with 2 – 0, the other team became agitated and started to actively attack at random. Luke was gaining speed with the ball at his feet, when he was attacked and pushed over. He lost the ball and his footing and started yelling at the other player- who was smirking- the asshole. Luckily the referee had seen it and gave the other player a reprimand and a yellow card. Ryan helped Luke to his feet, who tested his already weak ankle (which was luckily already in a supportive brace) and nodded towards Ryan, that he was good to go. "Come on." Ryan said, "Only 15 more minutes on the clock. We've got this- purely defense should be enough."

Luke nodded and they continued. Luke kicked the ball towards the middle of their team, who then passed it back to Luke. Getting corned once again by the other team, Luke spotted that Ryan was open and gave the ball a hefty kick, Ryan went for the ball and just as he received it and went to kick it towards the goal- Ryan got smashed by another player and he went down. His right leg took the brunt of the attack and it was slammed from the inside into the ground, within nano-seconds Ryan knew he couldn't catch himself with his arms (to prevent injuries- he'd been there; his arm was not breaking today) so he let himself be slammed into the hard ground and it took his breath away.

Ryan could hear a loud whistle, but it felt like ages before he could focus on what was going on around him.

"twood? Atwood? You alright?" The coach's voice was heard. Ryan nodded and tried to get up, not wanting any attention on himself. But immediately he was pushed back down by his shoulders. Lying on the grass, his vision started to clear and he glanced at a few of his team- including Luke and his coach – surround him. "Don't get up just yet Atwood, you took a nasty spill."

Grunting and taking a deep breath, Ryan replied. "I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine." Luke's voice suddenly tuned up.

Ryan glared at him. "Don't give me that look, Chino. I heard something pop." Luke replied.

The coach reached out a hand towards Ryan, "Think you can get up, Atwood?" Ryan nodded and took the coach his hand, he leveled himself up but immediately noticed something wasn't right with his right leg. He put all his weight on his left and hopped a bit, trying to keep his right leg elevated and off the ground, before he grunted out in pain. "Hold up." He could hear the coach say as suddenly another pair of arms helped him relieve some weight so that he could manage to hop towards the side lines. Once there, he was helped to sit down on a bench.

"What's hurting, Mr. Atwood?" A sudden female voice – school nurse – asked.

* * *

Kirsten and Seth were both frozen to their seats as they watched Ryan being slammed into the ground.

"Oh my god." Seth replied in shock as he continued to stare. "He's alright, isn't he? He's not getting up mom."

Kirsten had clutched onto her son's hand, "I think the coach is checking him."

"He's not getting up, mom." Seth replied a bit more frantic.

"Seth, keep your calm. Watch- Ryan's communicating. The coach is just taking precautions, see? He's getting up." Kirsten replied as she tried to convince Seth, whilst also trying to calm herself. She didn't want to run down like an overbearing mother, if nothing bad had happened. She didn't want to embarrass Ryan."

"oh yeah…" Seth replied, followed by an "oh no", as Ryan was suddenly supported by Luke and his coach.

"We need to get down there!" Kirsten said in a panic as she started to move, followed by Seth.

* * *

"uh—my right leg. Something doesn't feel right." Ryan replied, whilst subconsciously bracing his ribs with his left arm.

"Alright- I need some room people." The nurse asked as she lowered herself down to take a look at Ryan's leg. She carefully moved his shorts more upwards Ryan's thigh, before examining Ryan's knee. It seemed to be swelling, but she wasn't too sure. "Ryan, I'm going to remove your shin guard, ok? Just don't move until I say so. As soon as she moved the sock just a bit, she could see the indentation of the sock's elastic- yep, there was definitely something swelling alright.

"Alright Ryan. You've definitely sprained something, if the boys would be so kind to escort you to my hut. I can splint your leg and get you to a doctor, is your family here? Or do I need to call an ambulance?"

"Ryan?" Kirsten's concerned voice ran out – perfectly timed.

"I guess that answers my question." The nurse replied with a kind smile as she let the guardian of the child through.

"Ryan, everything ok?" Kirsten asked concerned as she look at Ryan, then at his leg and then at the nurse- knowing information would be coming from her.

"I'm fine." Ryan replied quickly- earning himself a shake of the head from the nurse.

"Mrs. Cohen- Ryan seems to at least have some sort of sprain; but I can't be too sure about the actual damage. We're going to move Ryan to my hut, stabilize his leg and then you can either drive him towards his GP or the hospital – at the mention of a hospital Ryan's head shot up towards the nurse; it couldn't be that bad, could it?

* * *

Once Ryan was helped towards the hut and onto the massage table, the nurse quickly got to work and started an emergency splint the entire length of his leg, to stabilize any injury that might be there. Luke then helped Ryan to hobble his way towards the Range Rover.

"Do you want to sit in the back or…" Kirsten asked not really sure what to do.

"The front." Ryan asked as he leaned over to push the chair all the way back. With some grunts and troubles with his now splinted leg, he was finally seated- he took a couple of deep breaths and winced; once again bracing his ribcage.

"Thank you, Luke." Kirsten said grateful as she and Seth also got in the car.

"No problem." Luke replied before turning towards Ryan, "Text me later, alright?"

Ryan nodded, "Yeah man."

"Good luck, man. I hope it's not too bad."

"Yeah…" Ryan replied as he had the door closed. He then turned towards Kirsten, "No hospital."

Kirsten looked at Ryan for a moment, figuring that with his background it might not have the happiest of memories, but recalling the conversation with the school nurse told her to absolutely forgo Ryan's GP and go straight to the emergency room.

"Ryan, you heard the nurse. You could've really injured something, we could drive to Dr. Adams, but he'd probably need an x-ray or something to see what's going on and then we'd still have to drive to the hospital. I'd say one quick stop- a thorough examination – and we'd be home in no time." Kirsten replied.

Ryan was a smart boy- he knew Kirsten was right; and the pain in his leg was only increasing. He'd never felt this sort of pain before. "Yeah, ok. Where's Sandy?" He asked as he reached for the belt.

Kirsten frowned but answered as truthful as she could, "Sorry honey, he's still at work- he was hoping to make it; but probably got stuck with a client."

Ryan stared at her for a little while, before staring out the window. "Oh." He muttered, lost in thought. _If they were going to the hospital, he really wanted Sandy to be there._

* * *

 ***giddydance* Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**And a next chapter. Sorry for the long wait! Hope you enjoy. And BIG THANKS to everyone who read and reviewed, means a lot! ;-)**

* * *

When they arrived at the hospital, Ryan was sweating profusely; he'd already been sweating from the soccer game, but his jaw was clenched and he kept grabbing his leg to keep it still from jostling around with every turn or speed bump. Kirsten parked the car in front of the E.R. and turned towards Ryan and then towards Seth- there was no way she and Seth could help Ryan inside. _Where was Sandy when you needed him?_ She thought before telling Seth, "Go inside and get some help, will you?"

"No, it's ok. I can make it." Ryan replied.

"No Ryan, I don't think you can. Go Seth." Kirsten pushed as she unbuckled her own and Ryan's belt. "You look like you're in pain, Ryan. How are you?" As she squeezed his good leg.

Taking another careful breath Ryan looked at Kirsten, "Something isn't right." He replied, which was honestly not an answer she expected nor hoped for - coming from Ryan. He just admitted to being in pain.

"Good thing we drove to the hospital then, yeah?" Kirsten chuckled softly, "The orderlies are coming." She said, giving Ryan a heads up. His door was opened and a large male orderly appeared.

"Hello…" Offering his hand towards Ryan who shook it. "You must be Ryan, my name is Sam. Your brother told me you had a bit of an accident on the soccer field, correct?"

Ryan nodded. "Alright- what we're going to do is have you transferred onto this gurney, ok? So that we can immediately roll you into an examination room, is that ok?" Sam asked.

Ryan nodded again. "Assuming your school nurse knew what to do, I can tell your right leg seems to be the culprit of your troubles at the moment. Anything else I should know about- were you unconscious at all, any pain anywhere else, any trouble breathing?" Sam asked as he took in Ryan's overall appearance. _Sweaty (but could be from the soccer game), shallow breaths, frown and tight muscles (pain)._

"I'm pretty sure I broke a couple of ribs." Ryan replied all of a sudden- making Kirsten gasp. "What? How'd you know? Why didn't you say anything?!" Kirsten asked concerned.

"It's ok, I've had them before. It only became obvious during the car ride, that the feeling felt familiar." Ryan replied self-conscious.

"Ok, thank you Ryan. Now my job is to make sure you move as little as possible. So, I'm just going to slide my right arm underneath your legs and I want you to hold on to my neck and/or back so that I can shift you onto the gurney ok?"

"Yeah." Ryan replied- bracing himself for the movement. But luckily Sam was good at his job and with just a few grunts, Ryan was on the gurney. "Perfect, let's get you inside."

* * *

Once inside a doctor quickly showed up – wasn't that just something different from all the experiences Ryan had had with hospitals in Chino? He once had to wait 2,5 hours in the waiting room, before someone came to help him- after he'd passed out from blood loss.

"Hello I'm dr. Grant." Dr. Grant introduced himself as he shook Ryan's hand. "Ryan." – "Kirsten, Ryan's mother." Kirsten introduced herself as Dr. Grant offered his hand to her as well.

"What seems to be the problem today?"

"I got tackled on the soccer field." Ryan replied surly.

"That usually happens at a football field." Dr. Grant chuckled as a joke. "And I'm assuming your right leg took the brunt of the tackle?" he asked as he gestured to the splinted leg.

Ryan nodded.

"And his ribs." Kirsten added, earning herself a glare from Ryan.

Dr. Grant nodded as he turned around and grabbed a pair of scissors from a drawer. "I'm going to cut away your uniform, to have a look at your ribs- alright?"

"I can take it off." Ryan replied, motioning to do so.

"No, Ryan. Thank you—" Halting Ryan's actions. "You'll get a new uniform. I can't risk you moving anything without knowing what is going on." Dr. Grant replied as he cut up both sides and sleeves so that the shirt just fell away from Ryan's upper body. Immediately it was clear that Ryan's fall had done damage. The middle of Ryan's ribcage was already starting to bruise. "I'm going to listen to your breathing now. I need you to breathe in as deeply as you can alright, it might hurt a bit." Dr. Grant said as he placed his stethoscope on Ryan's back, after a few times breathing in and out, Ryan's body was quivering and tight due to pain that was caused by the deep breathing. "You did good Ryan, I'm going to gently feel along each rib to see which ones are damaged alright? I'm guessing either 2 or 3 of them are just cracked- nothing too major." Dr. Grant felt along his ribs and at the fourth, Ryan pulled away. "Yeah, that one is cracked- sorry about that." He continued; and up to the 6th it hurt, before Ryan eased up.

"Alright- so my guess was close - you've got at least 3 cracked ribs. I'm scheduling an X-ray to check out how badly they are cracked, just to know what we are dealing with. Now onto the main problem." Dr. Grant said as he started to remove the splint, Ryan grimaced at the look of his knee. In the time from the soccer field to the E.R. now, it had grown at least twice in size. "Well, there's definitely something going on there. How does it feel?"

"Like jelly." Ryan replied truthfully.

"Alright, well I'm going to do some movements to see what could possibly be wrong. If anything hurts, let me know alright?"

Ryan nodded.

"Ok, I want you to relax." Dr. Grant said as he first felt along ankle up towards the shin, skipping over the knee and checking the thigh- at the thigh Ryan flinched just a bit when in contact with the hamstring but nothing really out of order. Next up, he grabbed Ryan's shin and thigh and started pushing in inwards, but no reaction. He then maneuvered himself between Ryan's legs and pressed outwards, and immediately Ryan gasped and Dr. Grant placed Ryan's leg back on the gurney. "Alright, that's it. Your knee shouldn't hurt that much during these test; which means that perhaps there's ligament that suffered some damage. Besides your chest x-ray, I'm sending in an orthopedist that's specialized in leg- but especially knee injuries, so that she can decide what to do, ok?"

"Yeah."

"A few orderlies will come in shortly for your x-ray. In the meantime, Mrs. Cohen please fill in these forms. So that we have a clear picture of Ryan's health and medical history. I'll check in with you later." Dr. Grant said as he handed Kirsten a registration form on a clipboard.

"Thanks." Ryan replied as energy seemed to seep out of him and he lay back down on the gurney. He suddenly felt a hand on his arm and he glanced at a concerned Kirsten. "You ok?" She asked.

Ryan shrugged, "Tired."

"Hopefully we'll know more soon, so that we can go home. I'm just stepping out for a second to call Sandy ok?"

* * *

 **Sandy's voicemail:**

" _Sandy? It's me Kirsten. I need you to come towards HOAG, Ryan was tackled during his soccer game. I don't know how bad it is yet- but he's hurt. I need to fill in Ryan's registration forms, but I don't know all of his medical history. Please get here! He's been asking for you."_

Sandy ran out of the meeting room as soon as he heard Kirsten's voice, the concern was enough to have him going. He suddenly heard Rachel yell after him, but he didn't register what she was saying… all he knew was he had to get towards his family.

* * *

Kirsten returned towards Ryan's exam room and started filling in the forms. The 'patient information' part was easy, but also very double. It asked information about family. _What was the right thing to do? Fill in everything about us, the Cohen's? Ryan's new family. Or as much as she could about the Atwoods?_ Kirsten decided to do both- with annotations behind each name and their meaning. The next parts were the easiest, 'parent/guardian information' and 'insurance information'. But then came the 'patient information'… _Sandy had all this in Ryan's file._ Kirsten thought… but she didn't want to invade Ryan's privacy like that, because she'd seen the file and it was a hefty one. If Ryan wanted her to know about it, he would tell her. Now she was regretting it though, because she needed this information. _Damn it, Sandy!_ She glanced at Ryan who was trying to relax. "Hey Ryan?"

"Hmm?" He answered as he glanced at her sideways.

"Do you have any allergies?"

"Penicillin, amoxicillin…" Ryan muttered a bit breathless. "Kiwi."

"Ever had a reaction to a vaccine?" Kirsten asked unsure.

Ryan shrugged, "No idea." _Of course, how could a child know that? They only got vaccines as a kid – if Ryan ever got all of his._ What followed next was simply impossible: 'the medical history', 'family history'… _How was she going to open that can of worms?_ Completely lost in thought Kirsten didn't notice that Ryan kept shifting and stifling grunts as he tried to relax on the gurney. But his breathing wasn't getting easier and his leg was really starting to hurt.

"You ok, bro?" Seth asked concerned after watching Ryan for a couple of seconds. His question caught Kirsten's attention and she looked up from the forms. "What's going on? Ryan- you in pain?"

Ryan grunted affirmative, "Hmm- yeah." And coughed after, his breath stolen from him and winced even more; shifting and trying to relieve some of the pressure on his body. The gurney wasn't exactly comfortable.

"I'll go get a nurse." Kirsten said as she dropped the forms beside her and walked into the hallway, "Excuse me, nurse? Could my son perhaps get something against the pain? We're waiting for an orthopedist to show up, but he's in a lot of pain and can't really relax."

"I'm sorry, ma'am. But we can't provide medication without proper examination- if we'd give him something it could mask any underlying troubles. I'm paging his primary examiner back though, perhaps we can do something to make him a bit more comfortable whilst waiting." The nurse replied already on the phone.

"Yes, thank you." Kirsten replied and went back towards Ryan's room. "Dr. Grant is coming Ryan." And again, Ryan was amazed by how different this hospital was, when Dr. Grant literally showed up after a few seconds.

"I hear you're having some troubles, Ryan. Can you tell me how you feel?" Dr. Grant asked, making Seth snort- because did the doctor just really asked how Ryan was feeling? His snort got him a glare from Kirsten and a questioning eyebrow from dr. Grant, but luckily Ryan was just about ready to get some relieve.

"My leg – hurts. It's a little, hard- to breathe." Ryan replied annoyed by his own halting speech.

Dr. Grant nodded, "Well that's no fun – I can hear that you're having a bit of trouble indeed." He once again listed to Ryan's chest quickly and placed a pulse oximeter on Ryan's finger. "Do you feel tired, weak or dizzy?" he asked.

Ryan gave the tiniest of nods.

"He said he was tired a little while ago- I thought it was just from everything that's happened." Kirsten replied concerned.

Dr. Grant smiled at the mother and nodded to acknowledge her comment, but he really needed to hear it from Ryan, so he prompted, "Ryan?"

"Tired, bit dizzy." He murmured, and at the same time the pulse oximeter beeped. Dr. Grant took it off and glanced at it. "Your oxygen levels have dropped a little. So, I'm going to provide you with some supplemental oxygen…" he continued as he turned on the oxygen unit from the wall and attached a nasal cannula, before fixing it under Ryan's nose and hooking it behind his ears. "That should help. I can't do much about the pain; but I'm guessing your side is just swelling up a bit so I'm sending a nurse back with an icepack. I'm going to place the pulse ox meter back on your finger- and I've set an alarm should your oxygen levels drop again. I'm also going to see if I can speed things up a bit with the orthopedist."

Kirsten shifted her attention from watching Ryan relax a little bit, to dr. Grant. "Thank you, doctor."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Half an hour later – and an icepack richer – a female doctor showed up. "Good afternoon, I'm doctor Milligan. Sorry, it took so long- I had to do an emergency surgery just now. I've heard your right knee is giving you some grieve today- Ryan." Dr. Milligan said as she turned towards the handsome young man on the table.

"Yeah." Came out a gravelly voice.

"Can you describe what you're feeling?" Dr. Milligan asked.

"Pain." Ryan answered as Dr. Milligan's hand examined his knee with an "hmmhmm." – "And if you could locate the pain? In the knee, around, left, right, back?" she asked.

"The outside." Ryan replied.

"Alright, I'm going to move your leg around a bit- I want you to relax as much as you can." Dr. Milligan said as she started to bent his leg a little and pushed it outwards. Immediately Ryan felt the same stabbing pain as earlier with Dr. Grant and tried to pull away. "Sorry, I know that is mean. Dr. Grant was right, there is some ligament damage. I suspect a tear in the LCL, that's the Lateral Collateral Ligament which is on the outside of your knee. I could continue with my test, but seeing as you're in a lot of pain and you already had to wait so long- I'm going to get you an MRI asap, so that we can see how badly the tear, if there is one, is and if there's any other damage, ok?"

Ryan nodded. "I'm also giving you a shot of pain relieve to take the edge off. So that you won't be in any more pain when you go through the MRI." Dr. Milligan said as glanced at the medical file; it wasn't completely filled in but there was nothing mentioned for pain medication, so she prepped a needle and… "Sorry Ryan, but this needs to go intramuscular." Ryan glared at Dr. Milligan who chuckled, "I've dealt with worse than glares, trust me. Although yours is impressive." She said as she nudged Ryan's hip for him to lean away a bit, before she pushed his shorts and boxers down just the tiniest bit and hit the needle home; causing Ryan to jump a bit and grunt. "There all done." Dr. Milligan said with a sadistic chuckle. At that moment a couple of orderlies came in, "Hey Ryan! We are here to take you to radiology." Sam, the orderly that had helped Ryan from the Rover said.

"Ah, perfect timing. When you're finished with X-rays, wheel him over towards MRI room 3. We can get it all done at once." Dr. Milligan said and left the room.

"Alright Ryan, I'm just hooking your oxygen to a portable unit and then we're good to go." Sam said as he turned towards Kirsten and Seth. "We'll be back in about 45 minutes. You can go ahead and get some fresh air or grab yourself something to drink down the hall by the waiting area." He released the gurney from its breaks and started to wheel Ryan away.

* * *

Sandy dumped the car in the nearest parking spot and hurried himself inside towards the E.R. Entrance. He'd spotted Kirsten's car there, so he knew he was in the right place. He walked towards the reception.

"How can I help you sir?" The nurse there asked.

"I'm Sandy Cohen, my son should be here- he had an accident on the soccer field."

"Yes, hold on a moment." The nurse said as she started typing in her computer, "Yes, a Ryan James Atwood-Cohen… correct?"

"Yes, that's him."

"He's in examination room B2. Which is down this hall second door on the left."

Sandy nodded, "Thank you." And took off following those directions.

He opened the door and was greeted by an empty room, confused – Sandy was about to turn around when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Sandy?" Kirsten called out and Sandy turned around to greet his wife with a hug, careful of the hot beverage in her hands.

"About time, you showed up." Seth muttered just annoyed enough with his father to ignore the concern radiating of off his dad.

Sandy shot Seth a guilty look before turning back to his wife. "I'm sorry I wasn't there and couldn't be here earlier! Where's Ryan? He's ok, isn't he?"

"I know you didn't mean to miss his game, Sandy- but I'm still angry with you. Your son needed you- and you weren't there. Now, I don't want to argue about this right now. Ryan's not ok, but hopefully he will be. They took him for X-rays and an MRI." Kirsten replied as they entered the empty exam room.

"MRI?" Sandy asked concerned.

"There's probably some ligament damage- an orthopedist came in and did a little test, but immediately stopped when it was obvious that Ryan was in pain. We should know more in a bit, he's been gone for…" Kirsten said as she glanced at the clock.

"A little more than 40 minutes." Seth replied a bit absent, his mind with Ryan.

"They said it could take 45." Kirsten replied- as the waiting game continued.

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 **And that's it for today! A bit longer than the previous chapter! And finally - Sandy shows up! I'll be back real soon with another chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**OMG so many of you reviewed the last chapter. I'm in awe. Thank you so much for all your kind words, insights and feels all together. It made me write this chapter with so much more love and inspiration. Hope it lives up to all your expectations! Enjoy!**

 _I'm posting this real quickly before going to work, so I don't have the time to thank all those who reviewed individually. But I will do it with the next one! ;-) I just wanted to give you guys an update. A big one!_

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25 minutes later, the door opened and Ryan was wheeled in once more. Sandy immediately stood up and took in Ryan's appearance. The kid was pale and the oxygen tube was still under his nose, which the orderly hooked back up to the main wall unit, but Ryan had his eyes closed and seemed to be asleep.

"How did it go?" Kirsten asked worried.

"It went ok. We had to move him quite a bit for the chest x-ray, which wore him out and had him in a considerable amount of pain despite the earlier shot of pain relieve. So, we ordered him a bit of morphine and he fell asleep during the MRI." Sam replied as he fixed all the necessary equipment and covered Ryan with a light blanket. "Dr. Milligan and Dr. Grant are checking both films and will be with you shortly. I wish you the best of luck." He said as he exited the room.

Sandy couldn't keep him eyes of Ryan, "He looks awful."

"Yeah." Kirsten replied softly as she swiped Ryan's hair away from his forehead, before grabbing his hand and sitting beside him. Just so he knew, she was there.

"So, what happened at the game?" Sandy asked, needing the information.

"Ryan's team was winning, 2 – 0. When the opposite team became agitated." Kirsten replied neatly.

"They became aggressive." Seth replied annoyed and angry. "First. They took down Luke, but he was ok. Seconds later, another player ran full force into Ryan, but Ryan didn't immediately get up again."

"He couldn't walk, Sandy." Kirsten continued emotionally, "And he didn't even want to come to the hospital at first."

Their conversation was interrupted when Dr. Grant and Dr. Milligan entered the room. "Hi!" Dr. Milligan said greeting the worrying mother.

"How is my son, doctor?" Kirsten asked concerned.

"Awake it appears." Dr. Grant replied as he gestured towards Ryan who was groggily waking up.

"Hey Ryan." Kirsten said towards him as she was closest.

Ryan didn't seem to be fully awake, probably due to the morphine in his system. "- Mom?" Ryan muttered.

Kirsten's eyes widened and she swallowed her tears of joy and rubbed Ryan's hand that she was holding. "Yeah, hey. You ok?"

Ryan swallowed, winced as he moved a bit and nodded. "I- was Sandy at the game?" he asked confused, oblivious to said – Sandy – in the room. Kirsten frowned at him, but apparently Ryan was a bit delirious and as content as he could get in his current state, he was drifting off again, but Dr. Grant and Dr. Milligan weren't there for nothing. "Ryan, we need you awake for a few more minutes- ok? Assuming you want to get out of here?" That certainly perked Ryan up as he immediately looked over at the doctors.

"Thought that would get your attention." Dr. Milligan said with a chuckle.

"What's the verdict, doc?" Sandy asked, gaining attention from Ryan.

"Sandy, you came." Ryan said softly, surprised but happy.

Sandy gently grasped Ryan's shoulder, "Of course I'm here Ryan." Noticing the glare he got from his wife, that told him- even though Ryan in his medicated state was happy to see him. His wife was far from happy.

"First your x-rays, Ryan." Dr. Grant said as he lit up a wall unit and placed two x-ray films on there. Dr. Grant pointed at three obvious breaks in Ryan's ribcage. "You've obviously cracked three ribs, the fourth, fifth and sixth. But besides the swelling, there's another reason your having some trouble breathing and why it hurts- it's because the third rib is dislocated. Luckily that's easily fixed, if you lean over towards your left side." Dr. Grant said as he helped Ryan a bit, "I'm going to place my hand near the rib and I want you to just lay back down- that's it. Now I'm going to apply some pleasure and you will feel it popping in- on either the first or second try, alright? It will hurt, but it will also bring instant relieve. Just try to relax." Dr. Grant said as he leaned on Ryan but didn't apply enough pressure yet- knowing the boy would tense up and think that was it. When he felt Ryan shakily let out a breath, Dr. Grant applied more pressure and suddenly there was a loud pop in the room and a gut-wrenching groan from Ryan.

"How does that feel?" Dr. Grant asked after a beat.

"Way better." Ryan replied, shocking everyone but Dr. Grant and Dr. Milligan.

"Perfect. You're still going to be sore from that and probably some more swelling for a couple of weeks, so I want you to take it easy. I'm going to tape in the ribs, for some extra stability and as a reminder to you to not make any sudden movements." Dr. Grant said as he lowered Ryan's blanket, earning a soft gasp from Sandy who was surprised by the vivid colored bruising and damage to Ryan's ribcage. "Yeah, looks rough doesn't it. The bruising and swelling is the worst, most of the time." Dr. Grant said as he grabbed some black kinesio tape and started to position Ryan and tape in a large part of his right side, from the middle of his back all the way around towards his sternum. "There done, it might feel a bit tight, but that's good- means it's doing its job. All I need you to do it keep taking deep breaths, no shallow breathing- that could lead to troubles in your lungs that you don't want. Alright?"

Ryan nodded, "Yeah." He said a bit breathless.

"Super, now I'm handing you over to Dr. Milligan and I'll be signing my part of your release forms. I'll be seeing you again in two weeks."

Everyone turned towards Dr. Milligan. "Right. Well, I've checked out your MRI film and fortunately we were just in time, as the swelling didn't blur the image for us, so we got a clear picture of what's going on inside that knee of yours. We've concluded that you have a grade 2 tear in your LCL ligament, the one I told you about on the outside of your knee? You're lucky though, because it's not completely torn – which means it will heal on its own. What we're going to do now- since the injury is very fresh and still swollen, is tape it in and splint it with a brace to keep it from moving – to give it as much rest as possible. We'll set an appointment in a week, hopefully most of the swelling will be gone by then and we can set-up a treatment plan for you. Is that clear? Do you have any questions?" Dr. Milligan asked as she glanced at first her patient, who was just staring at her in disbelieve and then at the mother, father and brother who just looked worried.

Suddenly Ryan spoke, "Will I be able to walk?" he asked.

"Yes, but with crutches." Dr. Milligan replied, "At least for now. No weight bearing – your leg suffered a great deal of stress and it's going to need rest. With physical therapy, we'll get you walking again, that's for sure."

"What does grade II mean?" Kirsten asked worried.

"It's just the way we rate the injury. A grade I is just a sprain to the ligaments, grade II is an actual tear, but not a through and through. A grade III is a completely torn ligament that requires surgery." Dr. Milligan answered, and she noticed that at the word surgery Ryan glanced up at her suddenly more awake than he had been the entire conversation. "Yeah, like I said you were lucky. If there are no more further questions, I will go ahead and grab a brace to immobilize your leg and then get your release forms and prescriptions."

"Prescriptions?" Sandy asked concerned- and glanced at Ryan's frown.

"Yes, anti-inflammatory and pain killers." Dr. Milligan said as she left the room to grab all the stuff.

"I don't need those." Ryan muttered as he once more laid back against the gurney, still exhausted. A nurse entered the room and started working around Ryan, checking the pulse-ox meter – which was still a little on the low side. "How's your breathing Ryan?" she asked.

"It's ok." Ryan replied softly.

"Your oxygen is still a little low, but it shouldn't be." The nurse commented as she removed the oxygen cannula and checked the pulse-ox again, and it dropped just a little. Her frown, as she wrote some stuff down on Ryan's chart and started checking his file, worried Sandy.

"Is everything alright?" Sandy asked.

"His file is incomplete. His oxygen is lower than it should be, aside from the fact that he has fractured several ribs and is experiencing some swelling- he should be at least at 95, but he's bordering at 90. Does he have a history of asthma or… anything else regarding his health or lungs?"

Sandy nodded, "Ryan has a history of respiratory, ear- and sinus infections." He answered truthfully but eyed the nurse, then Ryan, then the nurse again before motioning towards the hallway.

"Ok, well… it's going to be a little while before you're released. So, I'm just going to let the doctor in on your current readings ok?" The nurse told Ryan, before exiting the door with Sandy on her heels.

"Nurse…" Sandy started. "Nurse Rand." She introduced herself.

"Nurse Rand. My wife didn't fill in the forms, because she doesn't know Ryan's full medical history. As you've probably read, Ryan's adopted and I just arrived 30 minutes ago. I will fill in the gaps of his medical history, but you should know this now. Ryan was born prematurely, with very under developed lungs due to second hand smoking. His mother was, is- a very heavy smoker. Now, aside from what is written in his medical records, I assume not everything is truthful. I can tell you Ryan himself has smoked…" and with the Nurse's disapproving look he immediately commented, "not anymore, we made him quit the day he arrived at our house. But I don't know for how long he's smoked and what the current damage is to his lungs. His history of respiratory problems is quite extensive and there are gaps in his file." Sandy answered heavily.

Nurse Rand nodded, "I will check in with his physician, to check if there's something we need or can do. I'm not comfortable with letting him leave with his oxygen barely high enough to function."

"I agree." Sandy replied and returned towards Ryan's room.

"Everything alright?" Kirsten asked softly as Ryan had already fallen asleep again.

Sandy nodded, "The nurse is just checking some things with Ryan's physician." There was a knock and Dr. Milligan entered the room again, carrying with her a bin of stuff, followed by Nurse Rand. She smiled at the parents before going over towards, the once again, sleeping Ryan. She nudged his shoulder and was startled by his reaction as he gasped and pulled away from her as much as he could in his medicated and injured state.

She raised her hands in a unharmful way, "It's Dr. Milligan, Ryan. You ok?" she asked softly but clearly. Ryan was breathing raggedly and glancing around the room, not really focusing on anyone- trying to get his bearings. "Ryan, you ok?" Kirsten asked worried. At the sound of her voice Ryan seemed to focus on her and nodded. Slowly lowering her hands, Dr. Milligan motioned for Ryan's blanket. I've got you some new and warm clothes to wear, Ryan. But first we have to take care of that knee of yours, ok?"

"Yeah." Ryan replied as he handed over the blanket and shivered. Dr. Milligan checked Ryan's pulse-ox meter as she moved around and read the '91'. "You still having some trouble breathing?" She asked conversationally.

Ryan shook his head, "Just a little heavy. It hurts." He answered as his left arm softly waved over his taped-in ribs.

"Yeah, the morphine is probably wearing off. As soon as you're home, your parents can provide you with some more painkillers and lots of prescribed and needed rest." Dr. Milligan answered as she grabbed an ace-bandage. "Alright Ryan, Nurse Rand here is going to lift your leg up a bit and then I'm going to wind this ACE-bandage around your leg. I want you- and your mom and dad to pay attention here. Because as the swelling in your leg will go down, you will need to readdress your knee to keep it snug and wrapped." Dr. Milligan explained as she started to bandage Ryan's leg from just halfway up the thigh to halfway down his calve in an intricate pattern. "We call this technique a figure-8 technique, it's to prevent movement of the knee. It's only for the first week, until our next meet-up." Once finished she turned around again and grabbed a large contraption of metal, plastic and Velcro.

Ryan swallowed as he looked at the thing Dr. Milligan was holding. "This is a ROM-brace, ROM stands for Range of Motion. Save to say, this is going to be your new best friend for the next couple of weeks. Again, Ryan and parents, please pay attention." She slipped the brace underneath Ryan's right leg and Nurse Rand lowered it. "What you need to do, is make sure these hinges are aligned with your knee. Next you do the strap underneath your knee first, you simply snap it close and pull the Velcro- nice and snug but not too tightly- we don't want to compromise your blood-flow or the swelling. Next- above the knee, same like before. Then I'm going to adjust the brace to the length of your leg." Dr. Milligan said as she lengthened the brace. "You won't have to touch this again. Then you do the thigh-strap, again same as before and then the strap near the ankle." She rotated Ryan's ankle to make sure the brace wasn't too long. "It shouldn't hinder your ankle joint, which it isn't." She said with a smile, "And that's it. For now, I'm going to lock the brace in a straight position of 0-degrees. Because I don't want you to move your knee at all nor walk on it." Dr. Milligan said as she snapped the locks. After a week, I will hopefully be able to show you how these dials work and get you started on your range of motion. How does it feel?"

Ryan shrugged, "Weird- stuck." But thinking; _I'm afraid to move it – it will hurt._

Dr. Milligan chuckled reading the boy's mind, "It's pretty snug in there, Ryan. It's not going to move or hurt you. That's why we immobilize it. As long as you don't bang it into walls or furniture, you should be good. I'm prescribing you bedrest. Your leg should be elevated at all times as much as possible for the first week. You can walk, with crutches, to go to the bathroom or shower- but otherwise I want you resting. If you want to have dinner with your family, you'll want to elevate your leg, otherwise you won't be comfortable." At Ryan's responsive eyebrow raise, she smiled, "Yes, I know I said it wouldn't hurt. If you follow my advice. Now, have you ever used crutches before?"

Ryan nodded. "Alright, then my work is done here for today. I heard that Dr. Grant is coming back for your final check-out, but you can go ahead and get dressed. I will see you in a week, Ryan. Take care." Dr. Milligan said as she shook Ryan's hand and exited the room. Nurse Rand walked up towards Ryan, "Let me give you a hand to the bathroom and show you how to get dressed." She said as she helped Ryan of the bed, keeping a steady hand around his left arm, to let him get used to not using his right leg. Immediately Kirsten and Sandy hovered, but Nurse Rand shook them off. Teenagers usually didn't want their parents help, and they weren't incapable… the best way to work with them was to give them as much independency as possible and only offer help when really needed. She handed Ryan the pair of crutches and they moved into the bathroom.

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"Sit down, Ryan." Rand said as she motioned towards a stool and took Ryan's crutches from him. "Now I'm going to be honest with you- I know you don't want any help getting dressed, but you've got some cracked ribs, which aren't working in your favor- especially if you want to put on pants. The best way is like this, sitting down and reaching for your immobilized leg first. But your movements will be hindered. So, I'm going to help you today, and I want you to accept help from either your parents or your brother the next couple of days, alright? I will inform them of this as well, but I want you to promise me not to try it yourself. You could really injure yourself, if you do. Promise?"

Ryan's mind was going at lightspeed – _yeah, he was hanging around with Seth too much with all the nerd references_ – he didn't want any help, the nurse was right. But he'd never been dealt with this way before. She was giving him privacy this first – probably very embarrassing time of getting dressed with a splinted leg, and she seemed to know what she was talking about. So, Ryan nodded.

"I want words, Ryan." Rand said, standing there with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, ok. I promise." He said hoarsely.

"Good. Now let's get you out of those muddy shorts and into these soft sweat pants." She said as she dropped the new clothes next to Ryan on a table. Ryan glanced at them, they were nice, what kind of hospital provided clothes to their patients?

Once his shorts, socks, remaining shin protector and cleat were removed, Ryan sat there in his boxers. "No worries, your undies - you can change at home. Now, this is what you want to do. Slip the pants around the ankle and follow up with your good leg, the rest you can do yourself- not much embarrassment needed." She said as she watched carefully as Ryan moved the pants over his bottom. "Good, next up – shirt. Now due to your ribs, you don't want to rise up your right arm too much, so I suggest the same idea as with pants. First the bad side, then the head and your good side can follow." As she explained, she helped Ryan into a long sleeve shirt. "There all done, that wasn't so bad was it?"

"No." Ryan replied.

"Good. Let's get you back into the room and wait for Dr. Grant to release you."

When Ryan hopped out of the bathroom, Kirsten almost thought there was nothing wrong. But she could see the outline of the large brace through the sweatpants and of course the crutches were a big give away. Ryan was still really pale and the trip to the bathroom seemed to already have cost him any remaining energy he had left. Ryan slowly sat down on the gurney, leaned his crutches against the wall and scooted backwards. He lifted his bad leg onto the gurney, guided with his hands before settling back into the seat. "I'm sure Dr. Grant will be with you shortly, just relax and take it easy. I wish you a speedy recovery." Nurse Rand said as she left the room.

"And we wait again." Seth replied, earning a soft glare from Kirsten as she once more sat back own next to the gurney.

"I know I seem like a broken record Ryan, but how are you feeling?" Kirsten asked as she swapped away his hair from his forehead.

"Tired. I want to leave." Ryan muttered, eyes already closing once again- just exhausted from today's ordeals.

"I'm sure we will be home real soon, sweetie." Kirsten replied as she leaned over and kissed Ryan on his forehead.

"I hope so too, mom." Ryan muttered as he drifted off to sleep.

What followed was just silence in the room for what seemed like hours. Kirsten starring at her sleeping and injured son, Sandy starring at Kirsten and Seth just glancing from his brother to his mother.

"Did he just call you 'mom'?" Seth asked in shock.

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 **Thanks for reading!**


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